Don't make me frog it. You won't like me when I frog it.

Sunburst Tea Cosy – my new crochet pattern (and its free!)

Remember the Sunburst Tea Cosy I gave you a sneak peek of last week? Well, I’ve been double and triple checking my notes so that I could share this brand spanking new crochet pattern with you here! It would make a great Christmas present for a tea lover, and it works up quickly because it is made in aran weight yarn. It’s a lot simpler to make than it looks too! The final round of the top piece is where all the magic happens, so I’ve included extra photos to show you what’s what.

These are all the stitches you need to know (UK terms with US terms in brackets):

chain

double crochet (single crochet)

treble crochet (double crochet)

treble 2 together (double 2 together)

treble 3 together (double 3 together)

slip stitch

Sunburst tea cosy pattern (UK terms)

It should fit a 4-6 cup tea pot quite snugly, but if your tension is particularly tight, or if you want a looser fit, you may need to make the side panels bigger by adding more rows and/or increasing the number of stitches in the foundation chain by multiple of 2.

The top piece does look increasingly messy as you work through rounds 6, 7 and 8 but DON’T PANIC! It will sort itself out in the final round.

You will need:

5 mm hook (US size H)

6 mm hook (US size J)

Aran weight yarn in four colours I used Stylecraft Special Aran:

A – Meadow

B – Spice

C – Fondant

D – Lipstick

Side piece (make 2) Use yarn A and the 6mm hook

Chain 35.

Row 1 – Dc in 2nd chain from hook * ch 1 skip one stitch dc in next repeat from * until one stitch left. Dc in last stitch. Turn.

There are no turning chains whilst working the rest of the side pieces.

Row 2 – Dc in first stitch * ch 1 skip one stitch dc in next repeat from * until one stitch left. Dc in last stitch. Turn.

Repeat row 2 eighteen times. Fasten off and leave long tails to sew up later.

I’ve seen this stitch called both seed stitch and granite stitch. It’s very easy and produces a wonderfully textured fabric.

Round 2 (yarn c) – Join yarn in ch1 space. Chain 3, tr 1, ch1, tr2 together ch 1 all in the same space. Tr2 together ch1 tr2 together and ch1 in each 1 chain space. Close round by slip stitching into top of tr2 together. Fasten off. (five pairs of tr2together with ch1 between each)

Round 6 (yarn d) – join yarn in first dc. Ch 1 (doesn’t count as stitch) 1 dc in same stitch, skip the 5ch loop in previous round, ch10, * dc in next two stitches, 2 dc in following stich, dc in next 2 stitches, ch 10, repeat from * 8 times, dc in next two stitches, 2 dc in following stitch, dc in next stitch, close round and fasten off. (This should give you a round of 60 dc with 10 loops of chain sticking out at six stitch intervals. The loops are about twice the size of the ones in the previous row. Don’t worry about looping them through each other just yet, as long as they sit in the same place in the round it’s fine.)

Round 6

Round 7 (yarn c) – Join yarn to first stitch of round 6 ch 1 (doesn’t count as stitch) 1 dc in the same stitch, skip the 10 ch loop in previous round, ch10, * dc in next six stitches ch 10, repeat from * 8 times, dc in next five stitches, close round and fasten off. (This should give you a round of 60 dc with loops of chain sticking out at six stitch intervals. The loops are the same size as the ones in the previous row.)

Round 7

Round 8 – (yarn a) Join yarn to first stitch of round 7 ch 1 (doesn’t count as stitch) 1 dc in the same stitch, skip the 10 ch loop in previous round, ch10, * dc in next six stitches ch 10, repeat from * 8 times, dc in next five stitches, close round. (This should give you a round of 60 dc with loops of chain sticking out at six stitch intervals. The loops are the same size as the ones in the previous row.

Round 8

Round 9 – (yarn a) Join yarn to first stitch of round 8 ch 1 (doesn’t count as stitch) 1 dc in the same stitch. * Pull the 10 chain loop from round 6 through 5 chain loop from round 5, then pull the 10 chain loop from round 7 through the loop from 6, then pull the 10 chain loop from round 8 through 7.

Arranging the loops for round 9

Work 5 dc into the 10 chain loop from round 8, ch 3 and slip stitch into 3rd ch from hook work another 5 dc into the 10 chain loop from round 8. Dc in the next 6 stitches.

Working into the loop from round 8

Repeat from * nine times, working only 5 dc in the last repeat. Close round and cut yarn leaving a long tail (you will need this to sew the top piece to the sides).

Round 9 (completed sunburst)

Making up

Sew the side panels together for 2 cm at the top and 3 cm at the bottom, and check that the spout and handle of your tea pot will fit in the gaps. (The top edges of the side panels have a firmer edge, so they make a better edge for the bottom of the tea cosy so you might want to turn them the other way up BEFORE you sew them together!)

If you have your tea pot to hand it’s best to turn the cosy right side out and put it on your pot so that you can pin the top section in place making sure the petals are evenly distributed.

Slip the whole thing off the pot and use the long tail left on the top piece to sew it in place. It’s up to you whether to sew around the edge of each petal or not, as long as the top is firmly attached!

And that’s your finished Sunburst Tea Cosy!

Alternative colour ways:

A – Burgundy, B – Gold, C – Meadow, D – Khaki

A – Cloud Blue, B – Plum, C – Lavender, D – Meadow

So what do you think? Completely over the top (as all good tea cosies should be) or just on the sane side of bonkers? I’d love to know what you think!

BRILLIANT! — I’ve been wanting to try my hand at doing up cosies, but can’t “read” patterns properly… However, your Pics are excellent! I’m certain that I’ll be able to come up with SOMEthing along these lines… BTW, Love that loopy-stitch! My HOOKS are just twirling to try it out!
😀

Well, I make a pot of tea then put the cosy on the pot. There should be enough stretch in the cosy to just slip it on and off. As you try the cosy on the intended pot before you sew it together it should be obvious if it will be a problem. If it’s a bit to snug you could add a fastening under the spout or handle instead of sewing it. Are you from the US? English teacher cosies always designed to sit on a full tea pot!